> At 11:04 AM 5/24/2010, Dennis Perrin wrote:
>
>
> I think The Supremes were fantastic. Temptations, too. The Miracles?
>> Marvin Gaye? Four Tops? Jackson 5?
>>
>
>
> I like The Commodores, Rick James, and Teena Marie but by then Motown was
> in Los Angeles.
>
> Here's a fun fact. Neil Young was in Rick James's first band, along with
> future members of Steppenwolf and Buffalo Springfield:
>
> Old news to us Neil Young fans. I came to appreciate Motown after the
episode on Motown, Stax and Fame in the BBC/PBS History of Rock and Roll,
the one effectively curated by Robert Palmer but, while it made me
understand and appreciate all the craft that went into producing Motown, it
also made me realize why Motown - in general but by no means universally -
was not to be my cup of tea... too polished, exceptionally good pop but
professional pop nevertheless. I'm glad it kept the jazz musicians going
and I'm glad it was a major route for cross-over success - and laid the
groundwork for less polished folks in soul, funk, blues, reggae and hip hop
to cross over as well - but I lean towards the latter realms more than
towards Motown in terms of what I like to listen to (while maintaing even
stronger tendencies to lean towards punk, punks gone folk, alt-country,
garage and psychedelia).
BTW: Booker T and the MGs backed Neil on a record and tour almost 20 years ago... saw a warm up concert in Santa Cruz, gloriously mind-blowing (what a rhythm section!) and ear-damaging (loud loud loud - but maybe not as loud as the Dream Syndicate in Maxwell's) fun.